Yesterday, Drumpf rescinded Title IX from the schools in this nation.
Drumpf/Republican administration withdraws federal protections for transgender students.
The Drumpf administration, on Wednesday night, February 22, withdrew Obama-era protections for transgender students in public schools that let them use bathrooms and facilities corresponding with their gender identity
The transgender community, (the “T” in LGBT), hasn’t had an easy existence
There was plenty of hope during the recent years when rights for the LGBT community were recognized as basic human rights, including transgender rights.
However, the Drumpf administration has taken it upon themselves to start the dismantling of these human rights.
From Melanie Nathan, a blogger I follow …. “Today, February 22, that transphobic homophobe the putrid Trump AG, Jeff Sessions, did exactly what we thought he would do the moment he assumed office – AND so hand in hand with that other homophobe and transphobic piece of work Pence – as well as an apparently forced Betsy DeVos Of the Department of Education – announced that Title IX will no longer be enforced to protect transgender students equally in all school facilities, including restrooms.
Title IX guaranteed students the right to a safe and supportive learning environment regardless of gender and protects them from discrimination.
There is no reasonable basis for them to do this except spite and hate of a community that deserves protection and recognition.”
So disgusted!!
I think this is the beginning.
Like the #MuslimBan, the LGBT community is in the cross-hairs now. Bad things are headed this way!!
Transgender Children & Youth: Understanding the Basics
One of the most important and difficult tasks that parents face is how to best support their children while also setting the kind of boundaries and structure that helps them grow up to become responsible and successful adults. Sure, children and teens love to test the boundaries that adults set for them. But it is important to make distinctions between instances where “kids are being kids” and when they’re asserting things about themselves that are critical to their identity and development – as is the case with gender identity and expression.
~Gavin Grimm: Meet the Boy Laverne Cox Shouted Out at the Grammys~
(this case is so much more important now)
by MARY EMILY O’HARA
February 13, 2017
Who is Gavin Grimm — and why does Hollywood’s most high-profile transgender actress want you to learn about him?
Grimm is a 17-year-old high school senior in Virginia whose fight against the local school board will be argued at the Supreme Court on March 28. The transgender boy’s long road to the highest court in the country started at age 15, when he was forced to endure a series of school board meetings at which adults debated whether or not he should be allowed to use the boys bathroom at school.
ACLU attorney Josh Block told NBC News that Grimm’s case has taken on a new significance with President Trump now overseeing federal agencies like the Department of Education.
For the last 20 years the overwhelming majority of lower courts have been holding that out civil rights laws against sex discrimination protect transgender people,” said Block. “Gavin’s case is the first time the Supreme Court will consider the question and reaffirm that transgender people are protected. With a presidential new administration, these protections are more critical than ever.”
But the case, “Gloucester County School Board v. G.G.,” stands to impact every transgender teen and child in the nation: the Supreme Court will use it to decide whether Title IX protections on the basis of sex can be interpreted to include gender identity, and whether Obama-era guidance from the Department of Education can be considered the law of the land.
“I realize now this is much bigger than myself. And my greater goal now is to try to make things better for those who come after me.” Gavin Grimm is taking his fight for transgender rights to the Supreme Court this spring.
A spinning top is a toy designed to spin rapidly on the ground, the motion of which causes it to remain precisely balanced on its tip because of its rotational inertia.
Such toys have existed since antiquity.
Traditionally tops were constructed of wood, sometimes with an iron tip, and would be set in motion by aid of a string or rope coiled around its axis which, when pulled quickly, caused a rapid unwinding that would set the top in motion.
Today they are often built of plastic, and modern materials and manufacturing processes allow tops to be constructed with such precise balance that they can be set in motion by a simple twist of the fingers and twirl of the wrist without need for string or rope.
~Wikipedia~
~~GRAPHIC SOURCE~~
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This is a note which I wrote for my brother when I returned home from his burial
My only brother — Jose Tomás Rexach-Rivera
My brother (Jose, Pepo II, Pepito) was born on July 6, 1937. I was born on July 1, 1950. The 13 year difference is obvious but it doesn’t mean that it was the intention of Hortensia & Pepo I (our parents) to have only the two of us. As a matter of fact they were quite busy – Catholic??? …. or the desire to have a big family, like my Dad’s???
Mami had seven pregnancies – 3 after Pepito, one of which produced another son called Jaime Luis. He lived only one day after his birth. Then I came along, the only girl. Luisito was born after me – on July 24, 1951. He lived only 1 year. My Mom found him in his crib – gone with the angels that watched over him.
Hence, only Pepito & I were the offspring of Hortensia & Pepo I.
As a kid, I remember getting into his stuff and, of course, getting in trouble. I also remember riding in Papi’s car arguing about which radio station to listen to – I think he wanted to listen to the American teenage music of the time while I wanted music in Spanish – that I could understand.
How can a teenager really argue with a kid, or vice versa ….?
As the years went by, mostly because of the age difference, each of us went our own merry ways. Pepito – the handsome lady-killer, awesome piano player – went to Mayaguez to study the family trade – engineering/construction. I still was young and stayed at home with my parents.
Eventually, my brother got married in 1964 – I was a bridesmaid – golden dress – (I have a bracelet charm to prove it!!). I grew up and went to study at the Catholic University of Puerto Rico.
Our lives continued in different directions.
There were the usual weekend visits to our parents. He came with his family, I came for the weekend from the West Coast of the Island. I think that that was the major extent of our interactions as adults.
Don’t get me wrong, we were in touch but both belonged to different generations. There were just different interests, wants and needs.
It wasn’t really until Mami and Papi moved to Mayaguez to be near me so that I could help Papi take care of Mami that our adult lives intersected again. I think that at this time, we started getting closer – he visited me when he came to see our parents, had dinners together in Boqueron, watched tv, etc. Vista Bahia Restaurant was a favorite.
We started getting closer as adults. He would stay in the Vista Verde house, which I think he really liked. It was there, in the family room, that he told me that his kidneys were failing. I remember and can visualize the day very clearly …
His kidneys deteriorated and eventually he needed dialysis – a killer treatment for those who go through it. He came out of these treatments drained, complications set in … But, a fighter he was. He never gave up. His faith kept him going.
When I traveled to Puerto Rico after Christmas ’09, I learned many things about my brother that I didn’t know. At the funeral home, people came up to me to tell he was their mentor, he was the best at his job, there was no one like him. He was faithfully religious, read his Bible regularly and lead a life that was ruled, it seems, by the Golden Rule –> Do unto others as they would do unto you.
At the cemetery, Joe, his minister, José, his son (Pepo III), his son Carlos and a Catholic Deacon said beautiful words about him and how he should be remembered and celebrated. At the burial site, friends mentioned funny things that he said and did. His dry humor was always present, his serious face was remembered – he seemed to have a hard shell but inside he was a softie – like our Dad, I think.
I felt like an outsider looking in – into the life of a person that I didn’t know well.
Before he was a husband, father, an engineer and a member of his Church group, he was a son and a brother. The same blood runs through our veins.
It seems as if he lived in two worlds – two worlds connected by his mere existence. That’s the beauty of him – seems that he fit well in both worlds. It was a progression from one to the other.
Looking back, I wish we would have been closer but nothing can be done about that now. The best I can do isl cherish the memories of our growing up and sharing what we shared.
Dear Brother
GO IN PEACE, REST IN PEACE
Know that I will miss you.
I will miss knowing that you are but a phone call away.
In the arms of an Angel fly away from here
From this dark, cold hotel room, and the endlessness that you fear
You are pulled from the wreckage of your silent reverie
You’re in the arms of an Angel; may you find some comfort here
Put the love, good looks and a sweet temper into a well-furnished house.
Beat the butter of youth into a cream and mix well together with the blindness of faults.
Stir the pounded wit and good humor into the sweet argument, then add the rippling laughter and common sense.
Work the whole together until everything is well mixed and bake gently for ever.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Towards the end of the afternoon, mid-way through dancing and still enjoying the libations, it was time to cut the cake. I must say that this was a very good cake.
It Is What It Is 